Blackham Coliseum

[SlappyCajun]

Please read:

Let me go ahead and answer a lot of questions for all of you!

I am a student at the University and am the one who is in charge of the student effort to clean the coliseum. Let me update you to what has been or is being done to the temporary UL basketball arena.

To all of you who have not been in the coliseum for years or however long, please read. Here is a list of what is being done:

-All stairwells in the arena leading to the rows of seats has been re-painted white
-Entire seating area pressure washed,mopped, and cleaned
-Red retaining wall has been repainted red
-All rails, floor stairs leading to upper seating, section letters are being repainted red
-Bathrooms being cleaned
-Concession areas being cleaned/updated
-Entire outside of coliseum being pressure washed (go drive by and look at parts of the outside.) it looks like a new arena.
-outer walkways leading to seating sections, bathrooms, concession stands, cleaned, gutted, pressure washed
-New scoreboards being brought in to replace old ones.
-new sound system being installed
-portions of outside landscaping/walkways pressure washed and cleaned
-Older lights replaced/light bulbs replaced to provide proper lighting for entire arena
-Locker rooms being re-painted, cleaned, updated
-other room, such as rooms for officials, being re-painted, cleaned, etc.
-many other smaller updates, such as repainting, and hanging sections signs, etc. to add asthetic quaility to the coliseum
-the list goes on and on!

Here are some things that are being brought into the arena:
-Court from the Cajundome
-goals from the cajundome
-end-zone student sections from cajundome for floor seating
-possibly other bleachers/temp seating to provide more seats in the coliseum

Just for your information:
-the coliseum does not smell bad at all
-the arena is expected to have a capacity of around 6,200
-the coliseum will be very LOUD! as long as us fans are loud and numerous
-seating arrangements have not been set in stone yet, however, to let you know, season ticket holders (most probably) will be given seats which reflect their proximity/position as they would have been in the dome
-FEMA is paying for the entire effort. volunteers are working their however to show their support for the effort and the cajuns
-many updates are being done to improve the facility

The bottom line:
Whether big, small, state of the art, retro, older looking, newer looking, it doesnt matter, the coliseum is going to be the home for UL basketball for a certain period of time, at least the first 3 or 4 games, no one knows yet, I promise. I have seen the coliseum from start to present on the renovation and updates, (I am there just about everyday)and it is really starting to look awesome. Many people are working hard to provide you, the fans, a presentable and exciting place to watch the Cajuns play basketball, so please show your support for these people and the Cajuns by doing anything you can to help out, especially coming to the games. The coliseum will also look better for other events to be held there due to this effort.

How you can help out?:
-There may be another volunteer day this weekend. Be watching the boards.

Please be supportive of everything going on with this situation. Many people are working very hard to provide the Cajuns and fans an excting place to play and watch. It should be just like the old' glory days of the Cajuns and all should come and see it!

[CajunRebel]

Wow, great news. I wasn't expecting that much to be done. Thanks for the hard work and thanks for the update. Keep em coming!!!

Questions:
What do the scoreboards look like?
Will we have video screens?
Are there still leaks? If so, will they be fixed?

Suggestion:
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. Put bleachers along the cement walls down the sidelines for the students to sit in. Just like the old days we would be able to circle the entire floor.

I'll go ahead and request it before someone else does... Is there any way you can take some pictures for us of the progress, etc.?

[JMV JustMyView]

How you can help out?:
-There may be another volunteer day this weekend. Be watching the boards.

Please be supportive of everything going on with this situation. Many people are working very hard to provide the Cajuns and fans an excting place to play and watch. It should be just like the old' glory days of the Cajuns and all should come and see it!

If advance notice is giving then I will be there to lean a helping hand...Sounds like you guys did a lot of work in a short time...Keep up the good work...

[SlappyCajun]

Wow, great news. I wasn't expecting that much to be done. Thanks for the hard work and thanks for the update. Keep em coming!!!

Questions:
What do the scoreboards look like?
Will we have video screens?
Are there still leaks? If so, will they be fixed?

Suggestion:
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. Put bleachers along the cement walls down the sidelines for the students to sit in. Just like the old days we would be able to circle the entire floor.

I'll go ahead and request it before someone else does... Is there any way you can take some pictures for us of the progress, etc.?

Yes.... much is being done from volunteers to professional crews. It is really going to be an exciting place to watch the cajuns play. To answer your questions...

Because the arena is a temporary change, the scorebords unfortunately are not going to be as glamourous. Getting new scoreboards are hard enough to get on such short notice. The scoreboards will most likely resemble that of high school scoreboards. Nothing too too fancy. But it will serve its purpose.

There are no plans for video screens that I know of. I would not think there are going to be any.

In terms of leaks, there are no major holes that I have noticed or have been made mentioned to me about. The building is old and naturally some portions of it might not be 100 percent water sealed. However, reports from people who have been in the coliseum for longer periods, such as basketball personel who are at practices that have been held at blackham in the past report no major leaks.

The bleacher idea is a good one and has been brought up on numerous occasions. from me to alumni. However, there are fire codes/regulations we have to deal with that may be a little more regulated than they use to be. Trust me, the people in charge of the entire process are thinking about things like that and doing all they can to put as many seats as possible. And to give us that extra little home court advantage.

Pictures have been taken, there were a couple in an article in the paper. I will also try to post some.

[RaginRash]

What is FEMA doing to help out/compensate for the facility switch?

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. - Blackham Coliseum got the first part of a much-needed face-lift Saturday, as University of Louisiana student volunteers washed bleachers, swept the floors and started re-painting stairs and bleachers. The repairs are to get Blackham back in shape to host basketball games for the Ragin' Cajun men's and women's teams while the Cajundome continues to host evacuees from areas hit by hurricanes Rita and Katrina. "If we have to play here, we want it to look nice. It was much needed anyway so it's a good way to get the place back up," said Dennis Dent, one of a handful of volunteers from Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. "It'll be nice, kind of a retro-throwback night for basketball games." A revamp effort had been planned for a while but definite notice that the Cajun basketball teams would be using Blackham called for more immediate action, since the teams get started in less than a month, said University Programs Council Spirit Chairman Kyle Kellner. "There's still a lot of stuff to be done, but this was definitely needed. Hopefully, it'll cause the students to have more pride in the venue, in the team and really express that at the games, however many we have here," he said. The rest of the story Jordan Hernandez jhernandez@theadvertiser.com

[Zeebart21]

What is FEMA doing to help out/compensate for the facility switch?

You really need to pay attention.... from the report:

Just for your information:
-the coliseum does not smell bad at all
-the arena is expected to have a capacity of around 6,200
-the coliseum will be very LOUD! as long as us fans are loud and numerous
-seating arrangements have not been set in stone yet, however, to let you know, season ticket holders (most probably) will be given seats which reflect their proximity/position as they would have been in the dome
-FEMA is paying for the entire effort. volunteers are working their however to show their support for the effort and the cajuns
-many updates are being done to improve the facility

[CAJUNJUDO]

This is awesome!! Glad to see that progress is being made!!

You guys should decide now if you are going to have another volunteer weekend.
Don't wait until the last minute!!! I would have been there if I would have known ahead of time.

(Looks like you may need some planning tips from Gerald.....we had 3-4 meetings to plan for the big Volunteer Weekend Bash over at the Sports Complex)

The sooner you decide and set something in stone, the more volunteers will come and help out!! Most of us have busy lives and have to plan for events like this.....we don't sit around twiddling our thumps wondering, "Mmmmm....I wonder if they need some help over there....I guess I'll go."

[JMV JustMyView]

This is awesome!! Glad to see that progress is being made!!

You guys should decide now if you are going to have another volunteer weekend.
Don't wait until the last minute!!! I would have been there if I would have known ahead of time.

(Looks like you may need some planning tips from Gerald.....we had 3-4 meetings to plan for the big Volunteer Weekend Bash over at the Sports Complex)

The sooner you decide and set something in stone, the more volunteers will come and help out!! Most of us have busy lives and have to plan for events like this.....we don't sit around twiddling our thumps wondering, "Mmmmm....I wonder if they need some help over there....I guess I'll go."

Well said...If I would have some notice I will be there.....

[SlappyCajun]

Hey everyone,
I want to make two quick comments cause I have to run. We are definately having another volunteer day. We are going to be doing it on Friday. I do not have specific times yet, but most probably starting around 9am-til. I know most of the general public works on Fridays, but if you can come out at some time during the day, please come! Students do not have school on Friday, that is why we decided to do it on this day in hopes of getting a good student turnout.

A lot of the physical labor, such as moving stuff and painting, etc. has been completed, however, some asthetic improvements are going to try to be tackled this Friday:
-changing light bulbs in the walkways
-throwing out trash
-sweeping
-cleaning windows
-pressure washing
-painting one last section in the stands
-painting section signs, such as Section C, in the walkways under the stands
-wiping/scraping/re-painting steel beams in lobby entrance
-other forms of general clean-up

So, here is the advance notice. I know this is still short notice for some people, but I will try to get back to yall letting you know exact times, etc. We can use a lot of help, so bring friends. The coliseum is really coming together.

Oh, and another note to clarify an earlier post. Due to the re-location, FEMA is paying for the bulk of our expenses in re-doing the coliseum. However, exact numbers are not known yet, so it is not like there is an unlimited budget. We are still trying to be as cost efficient as possible.

[Rebel02]

Has it been decided what will be the student section and how large it will be? As a member of the heckling squad behind the basket by the visitor's bench, it is important for us to find out where we will be sitting and if we will need to get there extra early to get our spots.

[SlappyCajun]

It has not been decided exactly what sections will be for students and what sections will be open for the general public/season ticket holders. That is going to be decided later this week. What I can tell you is that we are bringing in the endzone seating sections, just like at the Cajundome. You know the ones behind each goal. Those seats will be on the floor as well as any others we are allowed to put on the floor. However, I would recommend that you get there early. Even though just about every seat in the Coliseum is pretty close and good seat, the lower seats/floor seats etc. may be very hard to come by if you are not at the game fairly early.